Transportation of live potted plants to nurseries and the like has been known for many years. There are several problems associated with such transportation these being:
provision of water during transportation, and PA1 provision of water after the goods reach their destination.
A large potted plant can readily sustain itself for an extended period of time during transportation and after reaching its destination if ample water is applied to the soil within the pot before shipment. A large potted plant is often defined as having a pot diameter of greater than 6 inches. The soil will absorb moisture and store it for use by the plant. As the potted plant and its container become smaller, less moisture can be stored in the soil and it will become necessary to (a) add water during transportation or (b) provide a source of free water stored with the pot/plant under transportation. Option (a) is normally out of the question for common carriers and some form of option (b) is therefore required.
It would seem that provision of water after the goods reach their destination would be simple. In a nursery operation, trained nursery personnel would readily take care of the task; however, in a mass merchandising operation dedicated nursery personnel are generally not available. In fact, the mass merchandiser typically will not hire personnel who are trained in the upkeep of plants therefore the received goods often die before sale. Ordinarily this would seem to cause little concern to the original seller, however, these goods are purchased with a replacement guarantee and the original seller often winds up paying (technically for the inaction of technically unqualified employees hired by the retailer) as the retailer is forced to honor the replacement guarantee.
Again, the large potted plant will more readily survive the mass merchandising operation because of the larger entrained moisture supply: plus, anybody can literally dump water into a large pot. The small plant, which can be defined as having a pot diameter of about 2-inches or less, will not readily survive a mass merchandising operation and is not generally offered for sale at such retailers.
The transportation and storage problem becomes acute for miniature plants, such as Kalanchoe, Violet, Parsley, Exacum, and other similar sizes, which are available in small containers of about one inch diameter. Miniature plants are generally shipped to nurseries by second-day air shipment and typically receive immediate attention upon arrival. In order to provide some protection and moisture during shipment, the miniature pot and plant are first thoroughly watered, placed in an empty reservoir and a plastic sleeve wrapped about the outside of the reservoir, pot and plant. The reservoir is shipped empty so that water will not be spilled during shipment if the shipping container is turned on edge or upside down. The retail-nursery will remove the plastic sleeve, water the soil, fill the reservoir and tend to the plant. Due to the severely limited amount of water that such a small soil mass is able to retain, most all of the water evaporates during transport. Thus the plant requires immediate attention upon arrival. Because of these limitations, the miniature plant is not typically offered for sale by the mass merchandiser; however, the mass merchandiser has indicated a strong interest in such retail sales, if such intense care related to the watering of the miniature plant can be eliminated. The mass merchandiser simply wishes to open the shipping container and place the miniature plants on display.
The mass merchandiser requires that the plant be able to arrive with a supply of water and survive a reasonable period of time while sitting on the retail shelf without any attention. The mass merchandiser does not want to be required to water the plant upon its arrival nor for the length of time, perhaps several days, while the plant has the best chance of being sold. The requirements of the mass merchandiser can only be satisfied by a unique solution. The instant invention provides an apparatus that allows such plants to be shipped via normal shipping methods by providing a leak-less water reservoir, by providing sufficient water for shipment, and by providing water for several days at the mass merchandiser's retail facility.